By Noa Myers

Casey Brown is a fan of frequent flying. While traveling ten months out of the year he moves his lanky frame in a slick, creative fashion to slide through deep, warping tubes, wrap turns in the pocket and soar high above the lip. His smooth surfing has earned him some impressive competitive achievements and he’s become pretty comfortable posing on the podium. With a WQS 2-star under his belt, he’s hungry for a 6-star and eventually the WCT.

What motivates this up and coming competitive talent and influences his progressive surfing? He’ll modestly tell you that it’s his friends that drive him the most. This may seem odd to any aspiring pro surfer-to-be who grew up stoking on Momentum and Loose Change. Normally it’s Machado, Robb, Taj or Kelly rather than the hometown posse, but growing up surfing with the likes of Dusty Payne, Tonino Benson and Torrey Meister (and with his neighbor island acquaintances like Clay Marzo, Mason Ho and Kyle Ramey) has forced Casey to strive far beyond normal to develop and progress at the same rate as his freakish friends.

After all his traveling, getting barreled from Indo to Tahiti and winning contests from Cali to Europe, Casey still prefers Hawai`i over any exotic destination. “I’m really looking forward to posting up on the North Shore this winter and surfing Pipe and Off The Wall,” he admits. Must be something in the water.

ON THE COVER: Casey Brown
PHOTO: Heff